Express courier company DTDC is targeting up to 35 percent increase in top-line growth to Rs 550 crore in 2011-12 on a jump in core business revenues.

“We closed last year with Rs 425 crore and expect a 30-35 percent growth in our top-line this year which should take us to about Rs 550 crore,” DTDC’s Executive Director Mr Abhishek Chakraborty told PTI here.

He said the company expects revenues from the e-commerce vertical within the flagship express courier space to more than double this year, while international business will grow by nearly 45 percent.

Serving the business-to-consumer e-commerce space, which is growing very rapidly in the country, requires some special logistical capabilities and it accounts for two percent of the company revenues at present, Mr Chakraborty said.

“Given the growth of e-commerce, we will have a 100 percent growth in this space this year and a similar one in the next three to four years,” he said, adding that in five years, e-commerce will account for over a tenth of the company’s total revenues.

The international business, both inbound and outbound cargo, constitutes for 13 to 14 percent of revenues at present and the company is aiming to grow it up to 20 percent in five years, Mr Chakraborty said.

For the international business, the company is looking at business accruing from the Indian diaspora and expanding into markets with a sizeable NRI presence, he said.

DTDC recently bought a controlling stake in an established express courier company in UAE, to expand into Gulf markets such as Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. The company has plans to partner with an Australian company to expand its presence there and also strengthen its joint venture in China, he said.

In the domestic market, Mr Chakraborty said DTDC has finished testing its retail business model which involves opening stores offering concierge services like bill payments, visa applications, passport application and renewals, driving license, movie and travel bookings in plush localities.

DTDC already has 25 stores where the format is being implemented, and there are plans to take it to 75 stores by the end of the fiscal. All these outlets are company owned at present, but 30 new outlets will be franchisee-owned, he said.

When asked about the capital expenditure, Mr Chakraborty said that because of the asset-light model followed by DTDC, its capex across verticals is limited to around 6 to 7 percent of its total revenues.

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